Just The Fax - R.s.v.p. Awaited

May 28, 1989|By MARK DAVIDSON Staff Writer

NEWPORT NEWS — City Hall employees will be sitting by their phones and checking their FAX machines on Tuesday as they wait on word from the one man they would most like to hear from: Vice President Dan Quayle.

City officials are awaiting Quayle's decision whether to accept their invitation to be the keynote speaker at the annual Fourth of July downtown bash, which will coincide with the city's celebration of the commissioning of the submarine USS Newport News.

The council sent an invitation to Quayle in April. Subsequent conversations between Newport News and Washington have led city officials to believe Quayle will accept if his schedule permits. The city had expected to hear something by Friday.

To plan ahead, Mayor Jessie M. Rattley called a special council meeting Friday to discuss what type of security the city might need if Quayle does come, who should provide it and what types of costs are involved.

The meeting was closed to the public and the press under exceptions to the Freedom of Information Act.

"We are new at this," Councilwoman Margaret W. Keator said Friday. "We really haven't had a high-ranking federal official here."

The USS Newport News will be commissioned in Norfolk on June 3. The city is planning some local events on that day, but reserved the bulk of the celebration for the already-scheduled July Fourth party.

The city is finalizing the rest of the July Fourth bash, which will include plenty of food and drink, souvenirs, T-shirts and music by a big-name band that will be announced next week.